9 year-old Suzanne (possibly Great Britain’s Judy Moody counterpart) is supposed to be writing “What I Did on My Summer Vacation” for homework, but instead, rambles on and on about how she wanted a pet hamster, her mother said ‘no’, then let her have one after her Nana dies. After the two ‘girl’  hamsters arrive, Suzanne’s family finds out one of the hamsters is in fact pregnant, not just really really getting fat from overeating. Mother and the pet shop owner discuss the possibility of  hamster Immaculate Conception, which Suzanne doesn’t understand. After the babies are born, they are found died, one adult hamster is missing and the other one is missing a paw. Suzanne and her best friend get the advice of a retired police investigator to help them solve the mystery of how the babies died. And finally it comes full circle back to Suzanne’s homework assignment.

I did enjoy the comical black & white sketches of the hamsters, little taped notes sprinkled on several pages , the little hamster footprints next to each chapter title, and the gutter of each page was illustrated to look like a spiral notebook.